Verizon Tops Satisfaction Survey, Followed by Sprint, T-Mobile

By Michelle Maisto |
Posted 2010-05-05

Verizon Wireless handily outdid competitors AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile in
a survey of customer satisfaction and loyalty, ChangeWave Research reported May
4.
In a March survey of 4,040 smartphone customers, only 1.5 percent of Verizon
customers reported experiencing dropped calls over the past three months-which
was both the lowest rate in the industry and the lowest rate ever recorded by
ChangeWave, in a series of surveys graphed since September 2008.

AT&T, conversely, received both the worst rating and the lowest score
ChangeWave had ever recorded, with customers reporting 4.5 percent of calls
being dropped in the last three months-three times as many as on Verizon's
network.

"AT&T was clearly the worst in the March survey, tacking on yet
another increase over the last ChangeWave research survey," ChangeWave
said. "Furthermore, a closer look at the trends show an increasing number
of dropped calls among AT&T customers surveyed, and a steadily decreasing
number of dropped calls for Verizon customers."

Sprint came in second, with a dropped call rate of 2.4 percent. According to
the report, dropped calls correlate very closely with overall customer
satisfaction with a carrier, and Sprint has over the last year worked hard-and
apparently successfully-to turn around its reputation in the areas of service
and support. In
fact, during Sprint's April 28 announcement of its first-quarter earnings, CEO
Dan Hesse said half of customer care improvements made by the industry
were attributable to Sprint.

T-Mobile came in third place, not far behind Sprint, with 2.8 percent of calls
dropped.

And as for customer satisfaction, 49 percent of Verizon customers said they
were "very satisfied" with their carrier's service, down slightly
from the 50 percent who said the same in a January survey. Among Sprint
customers, however, 35 percent said they were "very satisfied," which
was up from 27 percent in January.

T-Mobile tied AT&T, with 23 percent of customers of each saying they were
"very satisfied."

During
AT&T's first-quarter earnings call, executives emphasized the strides that
AT&T has made to improve its network-which, unlike any other in the United
States, has both the benefit and the challenge of being the only one to
offer the iPhone-to support its users' voracious data needs.

According to AT&T Chief Financial Officer Richard Lindner, AT&T's 3G
voice composite quality index improved by 10 percent in the New
York metro area during the quarter, and was up 47
percent in Manhattan in particular.
Manhattan and San
Francisco, with their dense populations and high
concentration of iPhone users, have been particularly challenging areas for the
carrier.

On the data front, Lindner added, "Companywide, our 3G average data
download speeds are up 25 percent versus a year ago, based on internal data,
and up 14 percent in just the past 90 days. In areas where we've completed the
backhaul in support of HSPA 7.2, internal data is showing speed improvements in
the 32 to 47 percent range, and that's very encouraging."

With Verizon rumored to be getting an iPhone of its own in early 2011, AT&T
is under additional pressure to please-and keep-its customers.